Rendezvous
Is Haida guilty of fraud?
Episode 10 of Aggretsuko Season 4 sees our big fraud scandal at work come to a head. Haida has been rewriting Retsuko’s ledgers for Director Himuro. Ton immediately exhibits his concerns too, especially as Haida is doing this after-hours. In order to get to the bottom of things, Retsuko brings Kabae in to help. Given her knack for company gossip, she’s a master at uncovering juicy intel. Part of that comes from climbing through the vents. Ton and Fenneko help out as Retsuko hacks into Haida’s computer and accesses the files. His password, “Retsukol0ve” is adorable but also predictable too. She takes all the files and copies them onto a USB drive. Unfortunately this confirms that Haida is definitely involved in fraudulent activity. When Retsuko tries to confront him about this, he brushes it off and refuses to engage.
Operation: Get Haida’s USB Stick
Kabae, Ton, Fenneko, Anai and Retsuko all work together to gather evidence to back up these claims. This comes in the form of the real account books hidden on Haida’s USB stick, which he keeps in his office in a safe. If Haida submits these files before the gang can stop him, there will be no hiding from the backlash. There’s 3 days until the financial statements need to be submitted too, so the pressure is on. The operation goes ahead, with a fake auditing team brought in to make Haida sweat. When he opens the safe to grab the stick, the combination is uncovered, allowing Retsuko to sneak in and grab the stick from the safe when he puts it back. Fenneko distracts Haida but Tsubone blows their cover, mentioning how there’s no audit. However, Retsuko gets away with the files. That night, Haida runs into Ton, who brings the guy to the karaoke bar. Retsuko is there and calls Haida out for the window dressing fraud. Haida takes full responsibility for his actions and decides not to incriminate Himuro. Because Himuro saw him as a scapegoat (dressed up with compliments and “faith” in him helping the company go forward) Haida doesn’t see the damage he’s done. That is, until Retsy slaps him in the face.
How does Retsuko save the day?
Haida eventually heads back to see the President and decides he can’t go ahead with lying to fix the company finances anymore. Himuro demotes Haida. Himuro is calling the shots and he nonchalantly confirms that someone else will just take Haida’s place. When Retsuko shows up and knocks them both out the window with her singing (saved by the window cleaner outside of course), the company is saved. Himuro’s leadership is called into question and he voluntarily steps down. The former president returns too, as do Kabae and Ton, who are reinstated to their old positions. The company is back how it was… but for one big difference. Haida has quit.
Why did Haida continue to commit fraud?
Haida has always been drifting through his life without much recognition, typified by Ton’s technophobia and refusing to adopt any of Haida’s good ideas. With Himuro finally acknowledging his work, Haida did everything he could to try and cling to that bit of power – even if it was steeped in corruption and fraud. How does Aggretsuko Season 4 end? As the episode closes out, we catch up with Haida who looks much healthier now. Out in the streets, Haida and Retsuko catch up and notice Tadano doing really well for himself on a big monitor. Instead of bitter resentment or jealousy, Haida simply smiles and congratulates him for his good work.
The Episode Review
The fourth season of Aggretsuko bows out with a really solid final episode, one that sees all the big plot points come together and the company back to how it was before. On the one hand, this is a nice way to round out the season, with the focus back on Haida and Retsuko, who appear to be much closer now and have a healthy relationship; no longer burdened by Haida’s stresses at work. On the other hand, the final episode also undoes some of the decent character work established across the season. With both Ton and Kabae back in their jobs, the resignations and them both finding their own purpose in life is diminished somewhat. Of course, that may be a little premature to say, given we haven’t actually seen how either of these are at work, so we’ll have to wait and see what happens in the future. The big themes around corruption, fraud and ruthless work culture continues to be the highlight of this season though. The facts about depression in those aged between 40-60 is pretty damning and there’s definitely some work done to touch on that depression. Did anyone else think Ton may have stepped out in front of that train during the middle of the season? Alongside this has been the constant will they/won’t they relationship between Retsuko and Haida, which is still no closer to being resolved by the end! Either way though, the series does end on a high note, with lots of promise for the next season.
